Faced with a sea of fresh faces each year, teachers need to be able to get to know their new students quickly. Break the ice with the following back-to-school samples of questionnaires

With these tools, educators can start building a positive classroom atmosphere on day one. Student surveys get teachers up to speed quickly regarding young people’s learning preferences, strengths and needs. Questionnaires also can provide a sense of students as individuals.

Let’s start by the following. They  are sample questions.  Select ones you think will provide the most useful information, and blend them with questions of your own.  The category titles are for your reference only, and should not be included on your final questionnaire.

Goals

• What are your career goals?
• What are your educational goals after high school?
• What college would you like to attend?
• What do you see yourself doing in the next 5-10 years?
• How do you plan to get to where you want to be 5-10 years from now?

Family and home environment

• How many brothers and sisters do you have?
• Do you take the bus to school?
• Do you bring your own lunch to school?
• What language do you speak at  home?
• Who do you know, other than a teacher, who has gone to college?

Personal Information

• Who are your friends in this class?
• What are you are most proud of?
• What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
• What extracurricular activities are you involved in?
• What are your hobbies?

Attitudes towards school

• What is your favorite thing about school?
• What is your least favorite thing about school?
• What was your favorite class last year?  Why?
• Why did you enroll in this class?
• What school clubs and organizations do you belong to?
• What school sports are you involved with?

Educational background

• What was your most recent mathematics course?
• List your class schedule.
• List the science courses you have taken.

Writing ability (writing prompts)

• If I could go anywhere, I would…
• I learn the most when the teacher…
• I learn the most when I…
• After high school, I will probably…
• My ideal job would be…
• Three adjectives others might use to describe me are…
• My definition of (biology, chemistry, physics, earth science) is…